Soccer: Samp boss Rossi apologises for giving the finger

11/02/2013

Coach to pay club fine, money to go to charity

Genoa, February 11 - Sampdoria boss Delio Rossi on
Monday apologised for showing his middle finger to AS Roma
defender Nicolas Burdisso during his side's 3-1 win in Serie A
on Sunday.
The gesture plunged Rossi back into controversy after he hit
the headlines last year for attacking one of his own players
during a game with his former club Fiorentina.
"I'm sorry about the gesture at the end of yesterday's
match because I have always given and demanded respect," Rossi,
a former coach of Roma's city rivals Lazio, said in a statement
on the Genoa club's website.
He said that the money from a fine the club had handed him
for the gesture would go to a hospital charity.
He was given a two-match touchline ban by Serie A's
sporting judge on Monday.
Rossi was sacked by Fiorentina two games before the end of
last season and banned from soccer for three months for trying
to punch Serbian striker Adem Ljajic during a 2-2 draw with
Novara.
The coach was angered by Ljajic sarcastically clapping
after being substituted.